The Sad Boys

If you have been a part of the EDM community for the last couple of years, then you will know of the group of artists known collectively as “the sad boys”. They are a collection of artists whose music heavily covers themes of love, heartbreak, moving on with life, and personal tragedy. Some of the biggest names in EDM that are a part of this include Illenium, Seven Lions, Slander, and others including Dabin, William Black, and Said the Sky. These artists have grown to become some of the biggest names in the scene and are also some of my personal favorites.

Now, some critics may say the reason many of these artists “got big” is that the music they make sounds very “pop like”, or generic; and, while I think there is a small amount of truth in this statement pertaining to some of these artists, I do not think that is the main reason for their rise in popularity. If you go onto fan pages or social media for any of these artists you can find dozens, if not hundreds or even thousands of stories of people who have used this music to get them through personal tragedies, such as a tough breakup, depression, cutting toxic friends/family out of their lives, or even to help people move on and let go of the past. And, while you can find stories like these for just about any popular musician in any genre of music, I find that these stories are being shared amongst the communities these EDM artists have cultivated more frequently. “The sad boys” make music that attracts people who are experiencing the same turbulent struggles as their songs portray. These struggles are very common in our modern world, which steered these EDM artists into stardom.

For my own personal story:

I suffer from depression and some social anxiety and used to have problems with toxicity amongst my friends and was looking to try and move on with life around the time when I was heavily exposed to this music. During a transitional stage of my life, I chose to move hundreds of miles away from everything that I knew, I listened to Gold by Illenium & Excision almost nonstop to help with the courage to move on with my life. When I was suffering from a bad breakup and a massive depressive episode, I listened to a lot of Seven Lions, Slander, and Dabin along with the aforementioned Illenium. This music helped me come to terms with a lot of what happened to me and helped me put it into context, which allowed me to heal. I believe this music is amongst the best to listen to for those suffering some emotional or mental pain and just are in need of a little music to help them onto the healing process.

In the meantime, you can check out our giveaway for the Illenium show in Las Vegas HERE!  We’re hosting our own Illenium pre and post party you can check out at this link! You can grab tickets at this link! The Sad Boys have honestly changed my life.